decretalist noun1 •(historical) A member of a 13th-century school of interpretation of canon law that emphasized the decretals (letters issued by the Popes on matters of church discipline) in preference to the Decretum Gratiani (1141), which their rivals, the decretists, favoured.If the decretalists were concerned that prospective spouses be able to carry out their moral obligations, they were no less interested in preserving spousely rights after the conjugal knot was tied. — 1990 formsdecretalists
